The Lawn Whitchurch · Hampshire Check availability

History

The story of The Lawn

For almost forty years The Lawn was the home of Lord Denning, Master of the Rolls, who was born a few hundred yards away in the centre of Whitchurch. These photographs come from the family archive.

Lord Denning's home for almost forty years

Tom Denning, the best-known English judge of the twentieth century, was born in Whitchurch in 1899. In 1962, the year he became Master of the Rolls, he came home to The Lawn, and he lived here until his death in 1999 at the age of 100. His library is still lined with the law reports he worked from.

A green plaque to Lord Denning on the timber-framed building in the centre of Whitchurch where he was born
The plaque in the centre of Whitchurch, on the building where Lord Denning was born
The Lawn today, seen from the main lawn with the church spire behind
An archive photograph of The Lawn taken from the same spot in the garden
Then Now
The house from the lawn, from the family archive and as it is today. Drag to compare.
Lord Denning at his desk in the library, surrounded by books and papers
Lord Denning at his desk in the library
Lord and Lady Denning crossing a plank bridge over the river hand in hand
Lord and Lady Denning crossing the river
Lord and Lady Denning standing on the old iron bridge in front of the house
On the old iron bridge in front of the house
Lord and Lady Denning on the lawn outside the garden door
Lord and Lady Denning on the lawn
A church fete on the lawn beside the river, with the house behind
A church fete on the lawn by the river
The Lawn from Church Street in 1962, the year the Dennings bought it, with figures walking past
Coming back to Whitchurch, 1962: buying The Lawn

1963

The Profumo affair and the Denning Report

Within a year of coming to The Lawn, Lord Denning was handed one of the most talked-about inquiries of the century. In 1963 John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War, admitted that he had lied to the House of Commons about his relationship with Christine Keeler, and resigned. With rumours of a security risk and of further scandal swirling around the government, the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, asked Denning, then Master of the Rolls, to investigate.

His report, published that September, caused a sensation. People queued through the night at the government bookshop to buy a copy: around 4,000 sold in the first hour and about 100,000 within days, extraordinary sales for an official report.

He concluded that there had been no breach of national security, and placed most of the blame on the osteopath Stephen Ward. Critics at the time called the report a whitewash, a charge Denning always rejected, and historians still debate it today. Either way, it made him a household name.

  1. Denning becomes Master of the Rolls
  2. Profumo tells the Commons there was no impropriety in his friendship with Christine Keeler
  3. Profumo admits the statement was untrue and resigns
  4. Macmillan asks Lord Denning to inquire into the affair
  5. The Denning Report is published, and sells around 100,000 copies within days

Lord Denning's library is still lined with his law reports, and guests can use it as a reading room or meeting room.

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